A Memory Forgotten
by Dirty Dingler
Summary: A few years after his departure from Ash's company, Brock is reunited with his best friend in a happy coincidence. Ash is not how Brock remembered however, and when Brock makes the difficult decision to turn his back and choose to forget, he finds friendship in a person he would have never expected. Rated T for some strong language.
1. Chapter 1

**A Memory Forgotten**

**Chapter 1**

"Alright, your Primeape is good to go." Brock proclaimed, handing the Pokemon back to its young trainer. "Take some of this Pokemon food, too. I guarantee you that Primeape will really enjoy it."

"Wow, thanks!" The young boy said happily, taking his Primeape and the bag of food from Brock's outstretched hands.

"Don't mention it." Brock said with a smile. "Best of luck in your next match."

Brock stood rooted to the spot as he watched the young boy, no older than fourteen or fifteen, scamper off down the hall and out of sight. The passion the boy had for Pokemon was readily evident, and Brock was reminded of a time when he traveled with someone similar. He didn't think of his time traveling with Ash and Misty often anymore, but the similarities between this young competitor and Ash stirred many memories in his mind that he had chosen to forget. Ash and his other companions were the best friends he had ever had, and he would be a fool to deny it. But their personal aspirations separated them a couple years ago, and Brock had moved on.

During that time, Brock worked on perfecting his trade, and had become a moderately respected Pokemon breeder in the process. And after all this time, he had finally caught his big break. Just a little while ago, he was contacted by a Pokemon League official who asked him if he was interested in caring for injured Pokemon for an upcoming Pokemon tournament. The intense battling that the tournament was sure to produce meant that there needed to be many Pokemon nurses as well as breeders on hand - nurses to do the all-purpose healing and breeders to give Pokemon some special treatment. The offer itself was humbling, as only those the Pokemon League deemed capable were invited to such events.

Brock had accepted the offer almost immediately, and began to travel to the tournament's location in Saffron City just a couple weeks later. And now here he was, on day four of the week-long tournament, and he loved every minute of it. The pay was good, the trainers were appreciative, and most importantly, he got to spend all of his time working with Pokemon. It was everything that he had expected and even more.

It was vigorous work, however. He and several other breeders were operating a stand in the lobby of the stadium where the tournament was being hosted, and there was a constant stream of customers lining up to make use of their services. He had to spend so much time caring for Pokemon that he didn't have any time to actually watch any of the matches going on; which, admittedly, was something he wanted to do. There was an overhead television set nearby but he couldn't even make use of that because caring for Pokemon takes so much attention and he really couldn't divert his gaze very often.

The amount of work was starting to lessen, though. Being about halfway through the tournament, many of the trainers had already been knocked out. The tournament was huge, with a staggering 128 contestants, but the format was fairly simple. It started off with pool-play, with all the contestants being divided into pools of four. After pool play, the top two contestants from each pool would advance to the single-elimination knock-out round. Once the bracket had played out and there were only two trainers left, they will battle it out in a best-of-three format to determine the champion.

The first three days of the tournament were for pool play, so they were all intense work days since no one had been eliminated yet. However, day four was the beginning of the knock-out round, meaning only half of the initial 128 still remained, and the work wasn't quite as bad. In fact, now that he had finished treating the young trainer's Primeape, Brock was left with nothing to do. There was no one else waiting in line, so Brock used the free time to watch a fragment of the match that was currently going on up on the television.

However, all he got to see was a very strong thunderbolt from a Pikachu before he was interrupted by a voice which said, "Brock?"

Brock looked away from the television and instantly tensed up. The voice had sounded familiar and upon seeing the man's face, Brock instantly recognized him as James, of Team Rocket. Brock was overcome with a sense of apprehension as James walked over to him. Admittedly, James looked innocent enough, wearing a standard uniform and appearing to be working for the custodial staff for this event. But Brock had fallen victim to more than a few false identities that James and Team Rocket had prepared, so Brock kept his guard up.

"What are you doing here?" James said incredulously.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Brock regurgitated as he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Though he wasn't sure what game James was playing, Brock knew for sure that James was up to something.

"What?" James said, looking slightly shocked. "Don't look at me like that! I'm not up to anything, I swear it!"

"Uh-huh." Brock said, growing even more suspicious. "Where are the other two? Off completing the other part of your latest elaborate scheme?"

"You mean Jessie and Meowth?" James said with a frown. "We, uh... we don't travel together anymore."

"Yeah, alright." Brock said as he raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe it."

"Just give me a chance, alright?" James said in a huff.

Brock sighed. He still was suspicious of the perennial perpetrator, but Brock could also tell there was something sincere to his words. "What did you have in mind?" Brock said carefully.

"How about we go watch a match, huh?" James asked hopefully.

Brock frowned. "What are you up to?"

"Hey, come on, I just want to go watch a match." James replied. "If we hurry, we might even be able to watch the ending of your friend's match."

"My friend's?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, you know, Ash." James replied. To Brock, this was very unexpected news as he had not even known that Ash was in this tournament, but James had obviously thought otherwise. "Wait, you didn't know he was in the tournament? I thought that was the reason that you are here."

"No, I'm here on work." Brock said shortly. "Ash is here?"

"Yeah, like I said, he's in a match right now." James replied. "What do you say?"

Brock thought for a moment, considering the prospect of leaving his station and watching his old friend in the arena. To make things easier, one of the fellow breeders at the station turned to him and said, "Go on ahead. We can cover you for a little while."

"Thanks, Greg." Brock nodded, then turned back to James. He still didn't like trusting him but his motivations seemed sincere enough thus far, so Brock said to him, "Lead the way. But anything suspicious and I'm gone, alright?"

"There won't be, I can swear that." James replied. "Come on, then."

Brock cautiously walked behind James through the stadium's crowded hallways, his anticipation of seeing Ash again displaced by his distrust for his ever-misleading companion. Nonetheless, he continued to follow James up to the top floor of the stadium, where they walked out onto a balcony which overlooked the Pokemon battle going on way down below. They finally came to a stop at this point, leaning over and resting their forearms on the handrail.

They were a long way up, but even at a distance, Brock recognized Ash almost immediately. He was wearing the same, standard hat that Brock had to come to know him by, and his Pokemon of choice at this point in the match was Pikachu. It honestly looked like he hadn't changed at all, even after all this time.

"See?" James said proudly, stirring Brock from his memories. "I was telling the truth, wasn't I? The little twerp...err, I mean, your friend is here."

Brock raised his eyebrow. "Yeah, you're right, but that only makes you're appearance even more suspicious."

"What?" James asked. "I don't follow him around anymore, I told you that."

"Alright." Brock said sarcastically. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just here on work." James replied slowly. "A man needs a living, right?"

"Whatever happened to Team Rocket, huh?" Brock asked snidely.

"They, uh...they kicked me out." James replied slowly. "This time, I really am just a janitor."

Despite his nature, Brock let out a cruel laugh. "Considering all the times you failed, they should have kicked you out a long time ago."

"Sad, but true." James said with a sigh.

"I...I'm sorry." Brock said, overcome with a sense a regret that he dearly wanted to deny.

"It's alright." James said. "Everything turned out well, in the end."

Brock still wasn't sure if he believed James, but he chose not to think on it anymore. Instead, he turned his attention back to the match, where Ash was really up against the wall. Pikachu had just gone down and Ash only had one Pokemon left, whereas his opponent still had two. But Brock knew to never count Ash out, and Ash didn't disappoint on this occasion. After Pikachu, he sent out his ace, and he rolled through his opponents final two Pokemon. It was his very unpredictable Charizard who won it for Ash, its overwhelming strength able to propel it to victory despite being at a type disadvantage.

Brock cheered along with the rest of the crowd as Ash was declared the victor by the announcer. With this win, Ash now entered the round of 32, and his next match would probably be sometime tomorrow. With his hand raised to the crowd, Ash turned his back on the arena and disappeared down a tunnel and out of sight.

"Well, he's still quite the trainer, eh?" James said after a moment or two.

"Yeah, he is." Brock replied distractedly.

"Aren't you going to go see him?" James asked.

"Huh?" Brock asked. He had been focused on watching the next two contestants enter the arena, but this unexpected question drew his undivided attention.

"Go." James said more forcefully, sensing the fact that Brock wanted to reunite with his old friend. "I don't mind."

Leaving James on his own was not the reason for Brock's hesitation, as James seemed to mistakenly believe. "I don't even know if he'll want to see me. It's been so long." Brock replied.

"All the more reason to go talk to him." James said. "You two went everywhere together! There's no way he won't want to see you again. Don't let this chance pass you by. I didn't leave on the best terms with Jessie but not a day goes by that I don't wish I could see her again."

Brock, overcome with a new-found sense of resolution, nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

"That's the spirit." James said with a lighthearted laugh.

Brock turned to James, unsure of what to say in parting to this man he had long considered to be his enemy. Perhaps he still is, but his demeanor thus far was nothing but amiable. In the end, Brock decided on a very emotionless farewell by saying, "Take it easy, then."

"Yeah, you too." James nodded. "Perhaps I'll see you later."

With that, Brock turned his back and walked back out of the stadium. He took the staircase back down to the ground floor, which was much more crowded now since a match had just ended. He carefully weaved through all the people and worked his way toward the spot he could only assume Ash was now: a Pokemon Center. He had no way of knowing for certain, of course, but as Ash had just finished a match, that seemed like the logical place to start.

There were more than a couple Pokemon Centers scattered throughout the ground floor of the stadium, so Brock just started at the closest one and began searching. He passed by quite a few Nurse Joy's, many of whom he recognized from his adventures, but after searching three of the Pokemon Centers, he found no sign of Ash. But, upon entering the fourth location, Brock found his friend of old. Ash was standing at the counter and was about to turn to leave, having just been returned his injured Pokemon from the center.

Brock, with an elation he hadn't experienced in quite some time, quickly covered the gap between him and Ash while shouting, "Ash!" a couple of times.

At first, he only drew the ire glances of annoyed onlookers, but when he finally did get Ash's attention, Ash turned to him and, upon recognizing him, exclaimed happily, "Brock! No shit, it is you! How's it going?"

Brock, expecting to see his childhood friend, was slightly of-put by Ash's new, aged appearance. He was sporting an untrimmed beard that was thin but fairly long, and it simply looked unkempt, as if Ash was just too lazy to shave it off. His hair was the same way, messy and ungroomed, but Brock had come to expect that of Ash even back during their adventures. His clothes were wrinkled and there was a subtle yet unmistakeable stench coming him, and all that led Brock to believe that he had many priorities over cleanliness.

Nonetheless, Brock overlooked the appearance and said, "It's great to see you, Ash. I was starting to think I would never see you again."

"No kidding! Man, what are you doing here, anyway?" Ash asked, a playful smile pursed on his lips. "Misty put you up to this, didn't she?"

"Misty?" Brock asked. "No, I'm here on work. Why, is Misty here, too?"

"Of course." Ash replied simply. "She's my girl, now."

"Oh, congratulations." Brock said. "I always thought you two would get together."

"Well, you said you were here on work?" Ash asked, quick to change the subject. "What have you been up to?"

"I'm a Pokemon breeder." Brock replied. "The League hired me for this event. I'm helping run a stand over on the other side of the stadium, giving Pokemon massages and helping them return to pristine condition. You should come by when you get a chance."

"Really? Breeding?" Ash asked incredulously. "You're still into that?"

"What's wrong with that?" Brock said with a frown. "It's been my dream for as long as I can remember, you know that."

"Yeah, but I always thought you would grow out of it." Ash said with a laugh. "It just so..."

"So...what, exactly?" Brock asked, growing annoyed. "Please, tell me."

"Nevermind." Ash said with another laugh and a quick shake of his head. "To each his own."

Brock frowned, but chose to ignore it. "So, what about you? You still seem to be quite the trainer, eh?"

"Oh, yeah." Ash said with a confident smile. "Me and Pikachu are still going strong."

"Good to hear." Brock said with a laugh. "Where is Pikachu, anyway?"

"Resting, probably." Ash said with a shrug. "I'm leaving him with the nurse for a little while longer, he took a beating out there. Hey, look, I told Misty to wait for me so I need to get going. My next match is tomorrow at noon, come watch me!"

"Sure, I would like that." Brock replied.

"Awesome." Ash replied. "I'll let Misty know, you can go sit with her if you'd like. See ya, Brock."

With that, Ash turned his back and left. As much as he had been wanting to see Ash again, Brock felt nothing but a certain sickness in his stomach as he watched his old friend leave. A lot had changed in their time apart, that much was for sure, and Brock wasn't quite sure he liked the changes.

After a few minutes, Brock followed in Ash's footsteps out of the center. He continued on down the corridors back to his station with the rest of the breeders, which was just as quiet as it had been when he left. And though he resumed his work, his mind remained focused on tomorrow and what it will bring.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next day, Brock checked in to his work early so that he could get off at noon and watch Ash's next match. His fellow employees didn't mind him doing so, a fact that Brock was very grateful for, and about fifteen minutes before noon, Brock checked out. But now came the hard part. Ash hadn't left him with any directions to meet up with Misty, and Brock was at a complete loss as to where to start looking.

Before he even began to search for her, Brock resigned himself to the fact that he may have to watch Ash's match alone. But, after only a few minutes of search, Brock found her, standing near the main entrance to the stadium.

"Brock!" She exclaimed when the two caught each other's eyes. And, to his surprise, she engulfed him in a tight hug as she said, "It's so good to see you. How are you?"

"No complaints." Brock said in reply. "How about you? You're looking good."

"Oh, thanks." Misty replied shyly. Unlike Ash, she actually did hold the appearance of her youth. Her bright, orange hair was a little longer than she used to have it, but she still had it in her usual, cute ponytail. Her clothes were very similar, even her backpack was. The only major difference that Brock could notice was that she was more womanly, having grown into her body over the past couple of years.

"Just like old times, huh?" Misty said. "How about we go grab a seat?"

"Sounds good with me." Brock replied, and with that, the two of them walked into the stands. There was a massive crowd, but they managed to find a good seat, much better than the one that Brock had just yesterday. They were on the fifth row, right about in the middle, so it was a great view.

They got into the arena just in time, as the announcer began introducing Ash and his opponent just as the two of them sat down. With that, Ash walked into the arena with his hand held high, and he took his place a podium while his opponent took the one opposite. And, shortly thereafter, the match had begun.

Ash began with Pikachu while his opponent used some Pokemon that Brock had never seen before. Judging by the smug look on Ash's face, however, Ash had seen such a Pokemon before and he believed he had the advantage. It was a very back and forth affair, with both sides landing solid shots, but even after several minutes, neither side had claimed victory.

"So, how have you been, Brock?" Misty asked, her voice raised high so that Brock could hear it over the deafening roar of the crowd. "Ash tells me you're a breeder now?"

"That's right." Brock replied. "The League hired me here to help. Things are starting to look up for me."

"That's great news!" Misty said. "I always knew you would do it."

"Yeah." Brock said with a smile. "It's a start, anyway. Maybe, someday, I'll open my own shop. But for now, I'm very happy with where I'm at." Brock then frowned and continued, "Ash didn't seem quite as impressed, though."

"No, I don't think he was, either." Misty admitted. "If I'm being honest with you, he joked about it when he broke the news to me yesterday."

"What has gotten into him?" Brock asked grimly. "I thought it would be great to see him again but he just seems so different."

"He has changed a lot, that much is for sure." Misty said with a sigh. In the background, half of the crowd groan and the other half cheered as Ash's Pikachu finally went down. He was now down by one in his match.

"Well, he can't be as bad as I make him out to be, if you stick by him." Brock replied. "I'm happy for you, by the way."

"Thanks, but..." Misty said hesitantly. "Well, I don't know how long me and him will last."

"What's going on?" Brock asked.

"It's like you said, he has changed a lot." Misty explained. "I first met back up with him a couple months ago, and I was so happy to see him. Maybe I just didn't want to admit otherwise, but he just seemed to be the exact same person he used to be, and I liked that. We began to see each other almost immediately, and its been a steady decline since."

"How so?" Brock asked.

"Well, I'm sure you saw, he's as arrogant as ever." Misty replied. "He's passionate about Pokemon, which he's always been, but that passion has become something of an obsession. Like, everything else, including me, takes the back seat on his journey become the best trainer there's ever been. And he can be a complete jerk when he wants to be."

"Yeah, I can see that." Brock replied grimly.

"And the worst part is that he's steadily getting worse as a trainer." Misty said. "The success he had when he was younger gave him this grand sense of over-confidence, but he's just not doing as well in tournaments anymore. And this just making him even more unbearable; he doesn't take losing very well."

"Well, at least that didn't change." Brock said lightly.

Misty laughed. "Yeah, I suppose."

The back-and-forth battle between Ash and his opponent went on for a good hour or so, with casualties on both sides leading to a final showdown between the last Pokemon for each trainer. Ash looked as confident as ever as he sent out his ace Charizard to face the opponent's Dragonite. In terms of power, the two Pokemon were about equal, trading blow for blow with very little damage being done. In the end, however, it was Dragonite's slight type advantage that gave it the victory.

Ash fell to his knees in unison with his fallen Charizard, clearly letting out a scream of frustration. The crowd was letting out a mixed response of cheers and boos, but Ash didn't seem to hear them. And despite Brock's mixed feelings for Ash at that moment, he couldn't help but feel bad for the ultimate competitor. After the match, Ash reluctantly shook his opponent's hand before exiting the arena the way he came in.

"He's not going to be happy tonight." Misty said as she and Brock rose to their feet. "I'm gonna go find him. I'd ask if you wanted to come along but I doubt he'll be any more personable now than he was yesterday."

"That's alright." Brock replied with a shake of his head. "I want to go see him. This might be the last I see of him for a while, anyway."

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you." Misty said grimly.

Brock frowned inwardly he followed her out of the stands. Brock had no idea where they were going but she obviously did, for she wove her way through the crowded corridors without hesitation.

Before long, they had reached the main entrance to the stadium, where Ash was standing alone with his cap pushed down slightly to cover his face. Brock felt an odd combination of pity and hesitation as he covered the remaining distance between them.

At first, it looked like Ash hadn't even noticed their arrival. But when Misty walked over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, he pushed her away and said, "Get off me."

"You gave it your best, Ash." Misty said quietly. "That's all anyone can expect from you."

Ash didn't reply, so Brock chose to instead. "Tough loss, Ash. I thought you looked really strong out there."

"I lost." Ash said grumpily.

"You can't win them all." Misty said comfortingly.

"Keep training and you'll get them next time." Brock said.

"I have trained enough!" Ash cried in exasperation. "I-"

Ash stopped talking immediately as something had caught his eye. He was staring somewhere over Brock's left shoulder as he exclaimed, "You!"

Brock turned to where Ash was looking to see James walking towards the group. When he got over to them, James said, "Hey, Ash, I just wanted to say, good match. Tough lose for you, I'm sure, but that was the best match I've seen in a while."

"No!" Ash exclaimed, a crazed look in his eye. "No! I've had enough of you! You are never getting my Pikachu!"

James didn't reply, and he cringed a bit under Ash's hate-filled glare. And Brock couldn't say he blamed James. Brock hadn't ever seen Ash look so livid, and even as a spectator, it was downright fearful. "Ash, please, calm down." Brock replied, surprising everyone including himself. "He's not the bad guy anymore."

"What the hell are you talking about, Brock?" Ash exclaimed, rounding on Brock. "He has tried to steal my Pokemon more times than I can count! You know this as well as I do!"

"Ash, please-" Misty said, trying to calm his aggression.

"No!" Ash said loudly, brushing her off. "I don't know what you're getting at, Brock, but James is definitely my enemy. If you have a problem with that, I will take both him and you on!"

"It's true, Ash." Brock replied calmly. "James is the only reason that I even came to meet you here in the first place."

"Aha!" Ash exclaimed. "So you are conspiring with him against me!"

Brock, his face scrunched into a look which can only best be described as confusion, said, "You're insane. Why don't you go take a rest, it's been a long day..."

"Don't patronize me, you..." Ash muttered.

Ash never got to finish that thought, and perhaps that was for the better, as Brock was close to snapping himself. How dare his friend speak to him like that! Brock was gritting his teeth in anger and, due to his fury, he didn't notice the second newcomer to enter the conversation at first.

Appearing next to James, Jessie removed a TV reporter disguise to reveal her team rocket uniform and proclaimed, "Well, here we all are again! How sweet! Nicely done, James, you cornered them. Now, twerp, hand over that Pikachu!"

All of Brock's anger evaporated into confusion and dismay. Seeing Jessie here now was a clear sign that James had lied to him, that they were indeed here to try to steal Pikachu again. He was at a complete loss for words, and he felt like a fool for believing James for even a second.

James, however, looked just as surprised as Brock was, and he said, "J-Jessie? What are you doing here?"

"For the same reason as you, of course." Jessie said simply. "With the twerp in this tournament, his Pikachu will be ripe for the picking!"

"It's, uhh...it's good to see you again." James said meekly.

"Shut it, James, we have work to do." Jessie said sharply. James, whether out of respect or fear, did so, and Jessie continued, "So, twerp, how about you make this easy and just hand over that Pikachu?"

Ash completely ignored Jessie's demand. Instead, he turned to Brock out of spite and said, "You see? They are always my enemy. They will always try to steal my Pokemon!"

Brock, feeling upset and sick to his stomach, quickly turned to James and said, "I trusted you."

"Wait, I didn't know she would be here, I swear!" James said frantically. There was something about his pathetic display that seemed sincere, but Brock was in no mood to open up to him again.

"It's true, only happy circumstance draws us all here today." Jessie reverberated, an evil smile plastered on her lips. "Now, about that Pikachu..."

Again, Ash completely ignored Jessie, an action which seemed to annoy her. He, instead, said to Brock, "So, are you going to help me or not?"

Whether or not James had lied to him was irrelevant at this point. All of the anger that Brock had experienced just a moment ago resurfaced as he replied, "You know what? No, I'm not. You're not the friend I once knew, Ash. I tried to reach out to you but you spat in my face. And it hurts, because we used to be so close. But I don't care anymore. You can deal with these two yourself."

"Fine!" Ash exclaimed heatedly. "I can take them on my own, anyway!"

"Ohh, the drama!" Jessie said playfully. "Looks like we have one less twerp to deal with, James!"

"You mean _you_" James replied slowly.

"What?" Jessie asked quizzically.

"_You_." James repeated. "_You_ have one less twerp to deal with."

"James?!" Jessie exclaimed.

"I'm not doing it, Jessie." James replied, his confidence growing with each passing word. "I've turned a new leaf."

"James, snap out of it!" Jessie said, growing a bit more desperate. "If we can get a hold of that Pikachu, we..."

"What, exactly?" James said with a frown. "We can give it to the Boss so he will accept us back with open arms? So that we can be richer than our wildest dreams? You need to snap out of it, Jessie. I'm not Team Rocket anymore, and neither are you."

That outburst left everyone in the group at a loss for words. Everyone except for James, that is, who quickly turned to Brock and asked, "Hey, want to go grab a bite to eat?"

Brock, again, was left speechless. His impressions of James had just taken another flip. He had never seen James speak to Jessie like that, and that alone was enough to convince Brock that James was no longer his enemy. Not only that, but now that Brock had effectively broke his friendship with Ash, James seemed like the perfect person to take the place.

Brock quickly smiled and replied, "Yeah, I'd like that."

And without saying another word, the two of them turned their backs on the dumbfounded expressions of their ex-friends and exited out of the stadium. They continued on walking into town, not knowing where this new friendship might lead them, but enjoying the fact that they were tackling this unknown together.


End file.
